Mission Of The Ages
by FuzzyLeaf
Summary: Kagome's been in the adventure, and the fight of her life. After a painful betrayal, can her father's past help her? An InuNaruto Xover. Bit of a title change, with revisions, and additions.
1. Long Lost Family In Need

Disclaimer.

I own NOTHING, but the story idea. Naruto, InuYasha, characters, and so on, and so forth, belong to their creators, and whoever else may have any forms of rights. This is just a fan fiction.

Also please take note that while this may end up being violent, and their may be some suggested adult situations; there will NOT be any lemons. Many underage kids appreciate fan fiction as much as adults and I refuse to post something that they shouldn't be reading.

No, there won't be a vote on pairings, or anything else. I know what I want. If you like it, awesome, if not, well…. I'm not forcing you to read this.

I am however in need of a beta reader. If you're interested, leave a review with some form of contact, either via e-mail, or yahoo instant messenger ID; which is the only one I log into with any regularity. And when it comes to reviews, creative criticism is always welcome.

Yes, I have revised, and added to chapters. Why? Because I was unhappy with how things were. Don't get me wrong, all my ideas and plans are still the same, I just wanted it to be fleshed out better.

The title also bothered me. It was too… bleah… So, I shortened it.

And without further ado… the story:

Mission Of The Ages

Chapter One:

Long-Lost Family In Need

'_Why won't this paperwork just solve itself_;' she inwardly grumbled. '_If only I had stayed away, instead of returning, I wouldn't even be having this problem_.' Sighing, she settled down in a resigned manner, and started going through the piles of paper. Just as she was starting to settle into a good pace, the door slid open.

"Shizune, you had better _not_ be bringing me anymore paperwork." She ground out through her clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama; however there is this package from the main-lands twenty-six years ago." Shizune uttered perplexedly.

"Twenty-six years?" She was just as confused as Shizune was. While any communication between the shinobi-lands, and the main-lands were rare, usually there was a boat that came around every three months for mail, and transport. A twenty-six year delay was beyond strange. Taking the package she took notice of the sender's name. "Higurashi;" she whispered. Eyes widening, she immediately tore into the package. She rapidly paled as she read the contents.

"Is everything alright, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, noting the odd expression on her face.

"Get ANBU to tell Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Iruka to each get bags with clothing, provisions, weapons, and anything necessary for an extended mission. And that they need to be back here in no less than two hours. Stress that it's an emergency!" She clipped out in the most serious tone she possessed. Shizune just nodded and ran off to do so.

Two hours later, and to her relief, Kakashi had taken the notation of it being an emergency seriously, and was on time. Motioning for them all to sit, she took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"You are all going on an extended mission. It's important enough that I'm designating it with an S-rank." She clipped out. Noticing the looks on their faces, she sighed. "Please, no interruptions until I'm through talking." She paused.

"Around thirty years ago an old chunin friend of mine, had decided to step down as a resident of Konoha. One day he just up and spoke to the Hokage, and then left for the main-lands. I had a hunch it had something to do with his precognitive abilities, but I had never really known." She paused again, while holding up the package. "Today I received this package. It was specifically addressed to me, as the Fifth Hokage." She took a deep breath. "Only it was sent twenty-six years ago, with a hold of some sort on it, so that it would be delivered today." She had to bite back a laugh at the looks on all of their faces. "As I mentioned before, he had precognitive abilities. He knew I what I was to become. And while he has been dead for sixteen years, he sent this as a plea for help." She set the package back down. "He had two children. His daughter, Kagome is the one that needs help, and he has specifically requested the six of you." She looked directly at Sasuke. "And Sasuke, he was your mother's elder brother."

"I still have family." Sasuke said so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

"Yes, you do. And if you six don't get there to help her out on time, she will die, and earth will suffer." She handed Kakashi a package. "In there you'll find a map to docks where you will be leaving from. Higurashi-san will have received her own set of instructions and will meet you there." She paused while they all looked at the map. "There will also be vouchers for the boat, and spending money for necessary expenses. Once you've looked everything over, pack it away, and head out immediately."

"But what will we be doing, exactly?" Shikamaru spoke up.

"The Higurashi's are to fill you in."

"Oh man, this is going to be troublesome. Why did you have to drag me into this?"

"I didn't. You were requested for, specifically."

"What a drag." He ground out as they all left.


	2. Indescribable Pain

Chapter Two:

Indescribable Pain

She knew that today would be a bad day. From the moment she woke up, she felt the proverbial black cloud of doom hanging around. And, when Sesshoumaru, whom had joined their group a little over a year ago, left to check on his lands, a feeling of dread then settled in her stomach. She silently wanted her older brother type figure to wait a couple of days, but at the same point, he had put so much effort into training her, that she could defend herself, right? So she ignored it. Besides InuYasha, who had been getting along with his brother finally, was still with them; and he had the Tessaiga. And she had her naginata, Seishou, so no need to worry, right? Okay so perhaps those two getting along was too strong of a description. But they were tolerating each other, without putting holes into their stomachs, or cutting off any limbs. But still the feeling didn't go away, and only grew as the day progressed.

And then InuYasha disappeared once he spotted Kikyo's shinidamachu. She had made peace with the dead miko, but with the way the feeling of dread grew, she wished this had been one of the few times Kikyo had joined up with them for awhile. This time, it seems Miroku, and Sango shared the ill feelings. They shared a look, and readied themselves for battle. Something in the pit of their stomachs told them they needed to be ready, and outside of the village. Thankfully Shippo listened for once, and he stayed with Kaede. Of course it could have had something to do with the fact that Sesshoumaru had left Rin and Jaken there as well. Jaken, who had calmed down towards the children and the group considerably, promised to keep the kids within the village. From the look on his face, she was pretty sure he was sharing the same misgivings.

For the sake of the village they went into the forest to hopefully direct attacks away from it, while at the same time staying close enough if that tactic failed. It didn't however, as within a few hours of InuYasha's departure, Naraku struck fairly close to the well. She simply couldn't remember a time when she had seen this many demons coming after them. They battled for hours, and all were hurt, and bleeding. But they could _not_ give up. They had to win, and they had to live. At one point she spotted Naraku, and attacked him with Seishou. Predictably, it had been a puppet. Even now, with the two biggest threats gone, he was still a coward. He refused to face them personally.

Help eventually arrived in the form of Kouga, Ayame, Ginta and Hakkaku. She couldn't be more thankful, either. Right before they arrived, Miroku had been thrown into a tree, as not only the saimyoushou prevented him from using his wind tunnel, but the sheer numbers of demons were too great. Sango, Kirara, were sporting various wounds; and she was rather cut up herself. Her arrows had quickly run out, and she had only her naginata left for up close and personal fighting. While the three of them were better prepared thanks to Sesshoumaru, they were only human, and had been fighting non-stop for several hours. It had been late afternoon when the attack began; it was now early morning; the next day. With their help, the fight was finally going in their favor. It was then that InuYasha finally decided to make an appearance.

While on some level she was happy he did finally show up, she knew he had to have heard, and smell, what had been going on. He was only on the other side of the village. And yet he had stayed with Kikyo. Kagome truly no longer begrudged him that, she had made peace with the fact that they would never be together, as he would never fully be able to separate Kikyo from herself, the fact that he would leave them to battle alone, appalled her. His senses had to have picked up the scent of Naraku's puppet as well as all of the demons. She planned to have a long talk with Kikyo about it later on. InuYasha knew they had made peace with each other, but he didn't realize that they had become something of friends. Kagome had planned to find some way to give Kikyo a second chance at life without causing herself to die, when all was said and done.

With the use of the Tessaiga, and the help of the wolves, the rest of the demons were finally slain; the battle had finally ended. And she couldn't be more relieved. She was covered in both her blood, and the black blood of various demons. She needed to tend to both hers, and her friends' injuries. InuYasha however apparently had other plans.

It seems at some point during the day, he had decided he wanted the Kikyo he knew back; with her full soul. And apparently while Kagome no longer harbored any romantic feelings for him, she was also wrong to think she could trust him as a friend.

"Keh, I see you actually survived, bitch." He growled at her, as she made her way over to Sango and Miroku. They looked as perplexed as she felt.

"Where the fuck were you, InuYasha? I know you _had_ to have heard, and smelled the attack!" She almost screamed back at him. She was _not_ a happy miko. "It started _yesterday_!"

"I was _busy_!" He growled menacingly. "And I was hoping that _you_ would be finished off!" Her movement stilled at that statement. "I _hate_ you, bitch. You broke the Shikon; you stole Kikyo's face, powers, and most of all _her_ soul!"

"One can _not_ help what soul they are born with, and if you opened your eyes you would see that she and I look almost _nothing _alike, you bastard!" She was near tears, she actually thought of him as one of her best friends, and he had hoped that she had been killed.

"I don't care you still stole it! Now give it back to her, you whore!" With a speed faster than she was able to dodge in her weakened state, he attacked by raking his claws along her back. The wolves immediately jumped him.

Surprisingly it was Ayame that was doing the most damage. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised however. Kouga had finally understood that he was no more than a good friend to Kagome, and Ayame had in turn, gotten to know Kagome to the point she loved her like a sister. They planned to finally mate once Naraku was dead. And to attack someone she viewed as pack was unforgivable.

That being said InuYasha was no ordinary hanyou. He was still able to make another attack on her, but this time she was able to counter it with her naginata. Still he wasn't giving up. He wanted her dead, and he knew the only real chance he could have, was before his brother returned. But then an arrow put a wrench in his plans. Kikyo had fired at him.

Confused as to her attack, he actually stopped his own. Looking at the one he viewed as his mate, he just couldn't understand why she would defend her reincarnation

"Kikyo, why are you stopping me? I'm doing this for you!"

"I will _not_ allow you to kill her."

"But she has _your_ soul, I'm just getting it back for you;" he nearly whined at her.

"You're a food, InuYasha. The soul is _hers_. When reincarnated souls change; ours may have a connection, but my former soul, and hers are different. And you have _no_ right trying to take it from her." She readied another arrow at him. When it was obvious she wouldn't stop, he left.

All she could hear at that point was her heart beat. She was in exceedingly bad shape, and yet she stayed standing. She hurt in a way that was more than physical. Someone who she loved almost as a brother betrayed her. The pain was so great, she couldn't think of any words to describe it. It hurt more than the physical wounds did.

She had a feeling Kikyo was telling her she'd help heal and protect he others, but she still couldn't hear anything but the beat of her heart. But still, she knew she could trust Kikyo to help them. Then Ayame and Kouga picked her up and dumped her into the well. Her injuries needed more care than could be provided in the feudal era.

She wasn't sure how she climbed out of the well, Seishou in hand. Everything at that point was blurred. She just knew that she did. But at least her weapon was useful in helping her keep upright. If it wasn't for it, and pure adrenaline, she never would have made it to her door. It was thankfully unlocked, and as it opened she saw several unfamiliar people inside.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she wanted to snicker at the looks on their faces. It wasn't everyday you saw someone drenched in blood, after all. She barely registered the look of horror on her Mother's face, when she felt herself falling forward. As she blacked out she felt a pair of warm arms catch her before she hit the ground.


	3. A Bloody Surprise

A quick notation…

Apparently there's been some confusion as to how Sasuke would be related to Kagome and her family. No, she's not an Uchiha, and so she won't have the bloodline trait. In this story her father, was Sasuke's mother's elder brother. She married into the Uchiha family. And his father's side is where the bloodline trait comes from. Not his mother's. Which explains why their last name is Higurashi instead; his mother did have to come from another family, after all.

And for those who are unfamiliar with Japanese culture, and houses. Toilet rooms are separate from bath/shower rooms. To shower and bathe, is to get clean. And using the toilet while sanitary, the act isn't exactly the most sanitary thing. So they keep the rooms separate. They also wash, and completely rinse before getting into the seriously hot bath.

As for after name honorifics (I have often seen them confused with each other in fics)…

-sama, someone of importance, lord, leader, etc

-san, formal and respectful

-chan for close female friends

-kun close male friends

-none is for those you are really close friends with at times, younger family members, and occasionally leaders/lords of extreme importance who may not follow at least the formality of honorifics.

Chapter Three:

A Bloody Surprise

Whatever any of them had expected the main-lands to be like; said expectations were blown out of the water. There were buildings, people, and all sorts of strange things everywhere. They couldn't help but stare. They too, of course, had strange looks thrown at them due to their attire, but it really couldn't be helped. Back home, it was just how people dressed.

Luckily Tsunade was right, and Higurashi had in fact seen fit to have his widow informed about what was going on. Within a few minutes of their arrival, she ran up to them at the docks. She took one look at Sasuke, and noticed the resemblance to her husband immediately. And then she promptly snatched him into a surprisingly strong hug.

"You _must_ be Sasuke! You look so much like my Asano, that you couldn't possibly be anyone else;" she excitedly chirped out. Needless to say Sasuke nearly went into shock.

"Uh…. yeah;" he muttered.

"And I know the rest of your names, but I'm not sure which is which. With the exception of Sakura as she's rather obvious."

"I am Iruka, it's a pleasure to meet you, Higurashi-san;" he bowed to her.

"I'm Shikamaru;" The rather bored and grumpy teen muttered.

"I'm Naruto!" The blonde kid jumped in front of her excitedly.

"I'm Kakashi;" he sighed, as he debated on whether or not to bring out his book.

"Great! Please feel free to call me Tsukiko;" she chirped rather merrily. "Well, you must all be exhausted, and hungry, so I brought you all some food." She smiled and she handed them out. "However I'm afraid you'll need to eat as we walk to the train station."

"Train station?" Iruka muttered, though Tsukiko was close enough to hear him.

"You'll see when we get there;" she again, chirped out. She was quite the peppy individual. "I'm afraid we'll need to hold off on any real conversation until we get home. Although I will need to have you hide your headbands. We don't need people thinking you're in a gang." She paused for a bit and looked over to Kakashi. "And your mask too. If you wear it, people may think you're going to mug them."

Everyone was already grumbling over needing to hide their bands, but she had brought up a good point. Of course once she mentioned Kakashi needed to remove his mask, they all stared at him. Kakashi could have sworn at that moment there was a comical sweat drop on his head. But he grudgingly removed it anyhow.

"So that's what you look like!" Naruto nearly yelled. While the boy was calmer at sixteen, than he used to be, he still was rather hyper, and could get loud at the drop of pin.

The rest tiredly chuckled, and Kakashi had a decidedly grumpy look on his face. Tsukiko noted, in her mind that he was rather handsome, and had that silver hair that she absolutely adored. She looked forward to her reaction when they met. Especially since she knew that while Kagome was long since over InuYasha, she still had a thing for silver hair as well. Until she realized she was jumping way ahead of herself in the hope to have silver haired grandchildren. It was sad enough as it was that she wouldn't have any grandbabies with those cute fuzzy ears. Yes the Higurashi family had very strange tastes.

The six shinobi openly gawked at the trains and the station. There were so many people, that people were actually getting pushed into some of the trains so that the doors could be closed. And this was fairly late in the night; so they were obviously a bit nervous on traveling this way. Thankfully for them, since they had so far to go, they were able to get on a less crowded train. Tsukiko had informed them that it was called a bullet train, which was fast enough to get them to Kyoto by morning. Not that any of them were quite sure where Kyoto was to begin with.

All of them were exhausted, and so for the protection of their things, Iruka and Kakashi took shifts in keeping watch. The kids, they decided could sleep the whole way, as it was only going to take a few short hours. And sure enough, their train arrived at it's destination by daybreak.

Then they got to see the rather amusing action of Tsukiko debating how they were going to get to her home from there. She kept muttering something about 3 busses, or a couple of taxies. In the end she chose the taxies. She figured that they were _all _too tired to deal with bus hopping. Once they arrived, she actually broke down and laughed at the kids' expressions when looking at the stairs. She too was tired, but she was far more used to the climb. Several minutes, and a few grumbles later, they were at the shrine.

"Welcome to my home," she started. "As you can see this is a Shinto shrine, so please treat it with respect. The building to your right is the house. I'm not sure about all of your customs from where you are from, but here when you come inside the home, please remove your shoes;" she smiled at them, and walked over to the house.

All six of them nodded, not wanting to talk just yet. There was something that was so peaceful about the place. But nevertheless they dutifully followed her into the house, and removed their shoes in the entrance. Taking note on how tired they looked, she showed them the toilet rooms, bath room, and the rooms they would be staying in. They all quickly got prepared to take a nap.

It was about three hours later when Iruka woke up. After a few minutes debating on it, he decided to get everyone else up and awake as well. The way he figured it, if they slept too late, they wouldn't sleep well the next night, and well it would be a rather bad cycle to start. No one was very happy with him, even if they did see the wisdom of it.

"Oh! Good, you're awake for breakfast." Tsukiko exclaimed when she was opening a door to another room. "Souta! You need to get up for breakfast."

"Maaaaammmaaaaa! It's summer, and there's no school, can't I just sleep?" He whined.

"We have guests, so no; I won't allow you to be so rude"

"Fine;" he sighed. After that they could hear various thumps and grumbling when they walked by to go to the table.

Eventually a rather disgruntled Souta appeared. Sakura took one look and immediately started blushing. To her he looked a lot like Sasuke; which caused all the guys to roll their eyes at. At least she was past her overly clingy stage and her crush for Sasuke. He could actually be able to call her a friend, and not have her drool.

"Morning, I'm Souta;" the teen grumbled as he plopped down into an empty chair. He clearly wasn't a morning person. "Just, save the introductions until I fully wake up, or I'll forget all of your names;" he mumbled while attempting to not nod off. Quite a few snickers were heard after that. Breakfast was rather quiet, with the exception of Souta grumbling over a cup of tea. Deciding to break the silence Kakashi decided to ask something that had been bothering him for awhile.

"So where's your daughter? We were told that she would need our help with something she was involved in." They were all rather vexed about Tsunade not giving them any clear objectives.

"She's still down the well, on the other side; Souta grumbled. He clearly was not fully awake yet.

"Down a well?" Sasuke perked up.

"It's a bit difficult to explain things…" Tsukiko started to talk, but she trailed off when the door slid open, and her face turned pale. "Kagome!" She cried out, scrambling out of her chair.

All of the shinobi, and a now wide awake Souta, immediately looked towards the door and were rather alarmed to see Kagome covered in blood, leaning against a naginata. And then she fell forward; luckily Kakashi was quick enough to catch her before she fell. That's when everyone else scrambled to action.

Sakura, the medic-nin in training, Tried to determine all of what needed healing, but there was just too much blood and something that looked oddly like black blood to determine it all.

"Kakashi-sensei, take her to the bath room, we need to get off some of this blood so I can work on her!" She turned to Tsukiko. "I need a lot of bandages." And then she looked at the guys. "One of you get my bag, I've got things I'll need for it." Sasuke quickly bolted to her room.

Kakashi held onto Kagome in the shower room, while she turned it on, to luke-warm. That's when she ripped the girl's shirt clothes off, leaving only the undergarments. She then used the mystical palm technique. Due to the amount of injuries, she couldn't fully heal any of them. She did however make sure that they would heal without any problems, and anything internally would be alright. Once the front side was done, Kakashi gently turned it onto her side, and they saw what looked to be four deep claw marks. They both wanted to wince, and she performed the technique again. By the time she did all that she was able too, she noticed her bag was in the room, along with a load of bandages.

Biting her lip she decided that it would be best to get Kagome fully cleaned up before leaving the bathroom, so put temporary bandages on all of the wounds. And then she knew she would need to remove the soaked undergarments first, but she was not willing to do so with a male in the same room. Especially with the pervert of a sensei, that was in front of her.

"Could you go and have her mom get something loose and comfortable for Kagome to wear? I need to finish cleaning her up." She asked tiredly. Kakashi simply nodded and gently placed Kagome on her side on the floor. As soon as he was gone, she removed the undergarments, and started to wash all of the blood off. When Higurashi-san came in, she helped her finish. Once that was done, all of the bandages were replaced with a special ointment on all of the wounds. Then they wrapped a bathrobe around her, figuring it would be easier to deal with if she remained unconscious long enough to for the bandages to need replacing while still knocked out. She then had Iruka, who wasn't covered in blood like Kakashi, to carry the girl to her bed.

"She'll be alright, Higurashi-san, but I'll be surprised if she wakes up at all today." She yawned. She wouldn't have been as tired had this not happened so soon after traveling all the way here, and on so little sleep.

"Oh thank goodness;" she sighed in relief. "However I told you earlier, to please call me Tsukiko;" she remarked in a 'no if ands or buts' tone.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you get cleaned up first, then I'll do the same after." Kakashi motioned to her. She quickly scuttled off to take a quick shower.

"I followed the trail of blood," Naruto spoke up, "And it went right to a covered, dried up well." Their eyebrows quickly rose.

"It seems Souta-san wasn't dreaming when he rambled earlier;" Shikamaru added.

"Of course I wasn't. She uses that well to travel five hundred years into the past."

No one was quite sure on how to respond to that.


	4. When Miko Meets Pervert

Chapter Four:

When Miko Meets Pervert

"So let me get this straight;" Sasuke growled at his aunt. "You let my cousin to jump down a well, to go five-hundred years in the past to fight with demons, when she didn't know how to even defend herself?" Even though Kagome was clearly older than him, he already was feeling protective of her, as well as the rest of his newly found family.

"It was her destiny, karma as it were. She was chosen for this, and all I can really do is help, and support her." His Tsukiko sighed tiredly.

"But she's running around in the past, after a stupid jewel!" He barked. If only Kiba had been there, he might have been impressed.

"There _is_ more to it than that. She has never really given me all the details of what goes on. And I think it's to protect me. Besides, she's been getting training on how to fight. Though I did think she was mainly cover fire with her arrows, until today." There was a lengthy pause. "However your Uncle knew she would need help from this point on, so that's why he arranged for you all to be sent before he died." Sasuke just growled in response and stalked off to Kagome's room to check on her.

"Well, I think I'm going to get cleaned up now;" Kakashi muttered when Sakura re-entered the living room. He paused on his way. "Iruka, make sure the kids are ready to train by the time I get out. I think we're all going to need it." He then continued to get cleaned up.

"We have a huge forest surrounding, and behind the shrine, which should give you plenty of training space." Souta mentioned as he carefully took a sheet and slowly dragged the naginata into a nearby closet.

"Uh, Souta-san?" Iruka looked at him oddly. "Why don't you just pick it up normally?"

"It will only allow Kagome to touch it;" Souta paused as he slid the closet shut. "Anyone else who tries will get hurt, by the naginata itself." He then went and got cleaning supplies. He figured it wouldn't be a good idea to have blood laying about when people visited the shrine.

"Hey wait up, I'll help you." Naruto offered, running after Souta in an unusual display of helpfulness.

"What a drag;" Shikamaru lazily commented, while grabbing his pack of cigarettes and sauntered out to the back yard.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable at everyone splitting up, Sakura decided to help Souta and Naruto clean. This left only Tsukiko and Iruka in the living room. She decided to clean the kitchen, so Iruka went to check in on Sasuke. He found Sasuke sitting on the floor next to Kagome's bed, and looking like he was in the middle of a rather intense brooding session.

"Kakashi plans on all of us training once he gets out of the shower." He spoke quietly.

"Good." Sasuke growled. He was still a rather grumpy teen.

"She'll be alright; we were here in time to help."

"I know, but, what if we hadn't been? I would never have the chance to get to know her." He mumbled.

"But we were, and you will." Iruka looked like he was about to say something more when Kakashi walked by, and noticed them in the room.

"Let's get the others and start training;" Kakashi ordered. They followed him outside where they saw Souta, Naruto, and Sakura scrubbing the blood off the stone ground. Kakashi was about to order them to go to training, but decided Souta needed help before anyone got curious. He shared a look with Sasuke and Iruka, and they set about helping, which got things cleaned up fairly quickly.

"Thanks for the help, guys." Souta smiled at the group. "Just go past the well house, and you can train in the middle of the woods. Just try not to do too much, if any damage." Kakashi nodded in response, found Shikamaru, and drug the others out to practice.

Usually Kakashi read his perverted books during training sessions. But this time he was just too agitated to do so. The girl, no woman, as she was clearly in her early to mid-twenties, that they were to help; arrived severely injured. He had seen people bloodied before, but she looked as if she had been in a bloodbath. He actually was worried over what they would be dealing with. And then to top it all off, Iruka had obviously not been training as much as he should have been. The guy was clearly rusty in his skills, so he planned to beat said rust out. And people thought Iruka had a temper.

The next morning, Tsukiko decided they all needed to get what she deemed as _regular_ clothing. It was obvious that they wouldn't be hopping through time until Kagome was healed, and she wanted them to be able to blend in more if they left the shrine grounds. Her only problem was Souta had school, and Grandpa had appointments to attend too. She really didn't want to leave Kagome alone. And then Kakashi had volunteered to stay.

"Are you certain you're alright with this?" Tsukiko asked, as she took his measurements down. She would buy him a couple of outfits herself. Anything else could wait till he ventured out.

"Quite; I can't keep my eye uncovered for too long anyhow, and I'll enjoy the silence I wouldn't be getting otherwise."

"Alright then, if you're hungry feel free to help yourself." And she then promptly dragged the rest to the bus stop.

Kakashi had a gut instinct to actually watch over Kagome in her room. She was rather lovely, now that he could see her when she wasn't drenched in blood. However unlike all of the kunoichi he was used to dealing with, she looked too fragile to go through what her mother had mentioned. But it was too strange not to have happened. That and the blood did point to her coming out of the well. But still, looking at her made him want to hurt whoever had allowed someone so delicate looking to get beaten so badly.

He settled down on the floor next to her bed, and pulled out his favorite, orange colored book. He hadn't had the chance, or the inclination to read it since they arrived, after all. He had the inkling feeling that Tsukiko-san might be a bit _miffed_ if she saw the books. What he didn't count on was his snickering and chuckling to have awoken a certain time traveling miko.

To say she was in pain would be an understatement. The person she had previously considered to be one of her best friends tried to kill her; and directly after a rather vicious battle, at that. While the majority of the time she was out, as far as she could tell it was dreamless, the closer she came to awakening, the more she relived what happened. And that's not even including the physical pain and discomfort she was having. But what finally woke her up was the distinct sound of a chuckle.

When she finally opened her eyes, she slowly turned her head, and almost jumped when she saw a head of silver hair. The only thing that kept her from doing or saying anything was the fact that while it stuck up in a rather odd manner, it was too short, he had something tied around the forehead area to the back, and a darker shade than Sesshoumaru, or the traitor has. No, this was someone she didn't know. Though, she did vaguely remember people being in the house when she returned; so perhaps Mama knew him. Looking at the hair, her hand twitched a little and she briefly contemplated running her hands through it. One of these days her obsession with silver hair was going to get her in trouble, but she was able to resist the urge. And he was still snickering and chuckling. He was leaning up against her bed, so she couldn't see his face. But what she could see was the book. Focusing in on it, she decided to read a few of its lines to see what the fuss was all about, and her eyes widened.

"You pervert;" she all but shouted. "What the hell are you doing in my room reading _porn_?" She was not a happy miko, but she did get the amusement of seeing him jump from being startled. He obviously hadn't expected her to wake up. When he turned around, she noted that he was rather good looking, however being friends with rather beautiful youkai helped make her rather immune to pretty faces. It was a good sort of immunity, in her opinion. Though, she did raise an eyebrow at the strange headband covering one eye.

"Oh! Eh heh, I see that you're awake;" He sheepishly chuckled while quickly stuffing the book in a pocket.

"Who are you?"

"Hatake, Kakashi; at your service;" he grinned at her; he hadn't bothered with the face mask, seeing as everyone else had finally seen his face. That and while he could take of the headband and hide it quickly, the mask would still be around his neck.

"Right, well I'm Kagome." She paused for a bit and started to attempt to get into a sitting position. Kakashi decided to try to make a better second impression by carefully lifting her into one, and adjusting the pillows. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, I'm glad to see you're awake. You gave us all quite a scare yesterday."

"Uh yeah, sorry about that;" she scratched the back of her head. "I'm actually pretty surprised to be _here_. I thought for sure I'd wake up to find myself in a hospital." At the thought of a hospital, she shuddered.

"Well luckily we were able to help you out here. What happened to you?" He looked at her in a rather lazy manner.

"I, uh…. fell down a lot of steps;" she replied rather nervously. She was a horrid liar. And yet people were still gullible enough to believe she had been sick all those times in school. But still Kakashi's lazy look turned into a rather hard stare.

"Injuries like that do not come from falling down steps."

"Look, I really can't, and don't want to talk about it." She looked away, while picking imaginary fuzzes off her blanket.

"Hmm, well I suppose you wouldn't want people to think you're crazy, so let me start off with a bit of information;" he grinned at her again. "I and my team are shinobi that was scheduled to be sent by your father twenty-six years ago to help you with your task five-hundred years in the past."

Kagome openly stared at him in shock.


	5. Of Wounds And Sharigans

Chapter Five:

Of Wounds And Sharigans

When she was little, she knew about her father's precognitive abilities. She had, after all, caught him muttering odd things on more than one occasion, and saw a few of them happen in front of her eyes. When she asked him about it, he explained it to her, and she just _knew_ he was being truthful. Of course back then she never once doubted her instincts. Still, having this strange man, saying he was part of a shinobi group arranged to help, by her father several years ago, was stretching it. She both wanted to believe, and wanted to be wary. He could be telling the truth, or he could be setting a trap. But then she remembered the letter her father hid with her, and told her not to open it till the time was right. And that she would know when that time was. She figured it was now.

"Before we speak any further on this, can you get something for me?" She looked up at Kakashi who was practically standing over her.

"Sure." He looked at her a bit funny, but was willing to help her out anyhow.

"It's in my closet." She waited as he opened it. "On the far left side, at the top, right above the top shelf, tap the middle of one of the sides of the wall till it opens." He raised his eyebrow, but he did so anyhow. Interestingly enough it did open, where he saw a few hidden items.

"What exactly do you want?" He looked at her.

"The small metal box; and thank you." He grabbed the box, closed the hidden door, and handed it to her. When she opened it, he saw an envelope inside, which she promptly tore into, and started reading a letter of some sort. "What are the names of your team mates?"

"Iruka-kun, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, and Shikamaru-kun." He noticed she looked at the letter intently as he listed them off.

"I see, well then I guess you're right. My father did send you." She handed him the letter to look over. "He told me I would know when the right time was to read this, and well, I guess he just decided to have everything covered;" she sighed.

"What's wrong? I'd think you would be glad for more help after yesterday."

"It's just; I don't want more people to be dragged into this mess." She rubbed her forehead. "But if my father says you're needed, then you'll be needed."

"So now will you explain what happened?"

"I think, so that I don't need to say it twice, I should wait till I have everyone in front of me first."

"You have a good point;" he murmured. He _really_ wanted to know what was going on, but it did make more sense to wait for everyone else.

"Yeah;" she sighed again, looking down a bit. That's when she realized what she was wearing. Or rather, the lack of wearing anything other than a bathrobe, and some bandages. "So, who exactly took care of me?" She really hoped it the pervert shinobi was the one. Especially since she just realized she didn't even have any panties on.

"It started off being Sakura-chan and I, as she's a training medic-nin, and I was the one who caught you." He looked over at her, and noticed her wary expression. "You still had your undergarments though, until after I left. Sakura-chan, and your Mother were the ones who finished cleaning, and dressing you."

"I see, thank you." She wasn't all too thrilled that he saw her in that little clothing, but with as bad shape as she had been in, she couldn't be angry at him. Still, she would keep an eye on him. Her bandages were starting to feel like they were soaking through; signaling they may need to be changed. "Is Sakura-san here? I think if the bandages aren't changed soon, I might be getting blood on the bed." She was frowning, and took a peek at her leg.

"No, I'm afraid your Mother took everyone else out shopping."

"Damn, knowing Mama they won't be back until dinner time."

"I may not be a medic-nin, but I do have knowledge of first-aid, and I can change them for you;" he offered.

"I don't know…" she trailed off while frowning. That would mean the removal of her bathrobe, and being naked. But she did need them changed. "Fine, they do _need_ changing, but first I want to put a pair of panties on before you start."

"Which drawer?"

"Top right. And if you could from the bottom drawer grab a set of loose cotton pajamas so I can put them on after?" He nodded his assent as he opened up the underwear drawer. She glared at him when she noticed his rather lecherous approving look on his face while staring at said undergarments. "Damnit, just pick a pair of panties already, you pervert."

"I'm sorry, they were just all too nice not to look at;" he winked at her as he tossed her one. He tossed her light blue cotton pajama shirt and pants set next to her and darted off to get fresh bandages, and the ointment Sakura brought. As he did so, she put the panties on as quickly as she was able too, under the covers.

"Alright, let's start with the legs first." He pulled the covers off. "How about you lay down for this, we can move onto the stomach wounds after." She did comply. He cut the bandages off, and noticed that they were not only healing nicely, but that they were further along than he had expected. He gently spread the ointment and re-bandaged her legs. Then he pulled the covers up so her panties would be covered, and opened the bathrobe enough to both see her stomach, and hide her breasts. He may be a pervert, but she was injured. There were lines he clearly wouldn't cross, even with a twenty-foot kunai.

Again, her stomach wounds were healing faster than expected. But he decided to hold his thoughts on that until he was done. He was surprised at the starburst shaped scar by her hip, though. And gently ran his hand over it.

"You'll find out about _that_ scar later on." Kagome startled him out of his thoughts. He quickly finished treating her stomach in response.

After he took care of her arms, and with the use of a strategically placed towel, the rest of her torso, he gently flipped her onto her stomach. He carefully removed the bloodied bandages and assessed her back. Of all of the injuries, the back was the most curious ones. They looked like four large claws swiped at her. He didn't know how right he was. But eventually he re-bandaged it as well. He then helped her to sit up, and turned around so she could put her pajamas.

"Thank you, Kakashi-san;" she said once she was finished dressing.

"I have to say, you are healing rather impressively."

"That would be due to my miko-ki."

"Interesting."

"It's useful;" she replied as she started to move so she could get out of bed.

"Even if you are a fast healer, I don't think you're ready to get up just yet." He was eyeing her warily.

"I _hate_ staying in bed all day, and I need food." Oh yes, she had little patience when it came to actually being a patient.

"Well I can't let you walk just yet;" he stated, as he scooped her up. "So I'll carry you downstairs." As steep as the stairs were, it was a good thing he had excellent balance. He placed her on the couch once downstairs.

"Ah yes, to be out of my room;" she sighed happily as she watched Kakashi wander into the kitchen.

"I should warn you now; I can't cook anything beyond toast, and tea."

"That's alright; I can deal with toast, or cereal or something like that."

She listened to him rummage around the kitchen for a few minutes when she spotted the television remote on the coffee table next to her. She promptly started channel surfing, and in the midst of it, Kakashi returned with two cups of tea. He then scuttled back and forth bringing out cereal and toast for the both of them.

"Thank you;" she said as she decided to watch the news for awhile. It had been a few months since she had the chance to catch up to the current affairs of the country, and world.

Kakashi was definitely interested in the news. The outside world was largely ignored in the shinobi lands, unless there was a mission outside of them. Which was rare, but considering they were mercenaries of sorts, it had been known to happen. They did have television available there, but news tended to be filtered out. Actually a lot was filtered out. They didn't get all that much in the way of channels. They got anything made on the lands, and from the outside world, mainly older classic movies. So to see news about all sorts of places all over the world was fascinating.

They sat in companionable silence for awhile just watching the news. At some point after they had finished eating, she stretched out, using Kakashi as a pillow for her legs. Strangely enough he didn't object. He only positioned them in a way that wouldn't make his legs fall asleep. She studied his forehead band for a bit.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this, but why do you keep one eye covered?" She couldn't help but be curious about it. He looked over at her debating on if he should answer her or not. He really didn't like talking about it, but at the same time she was to dredge up a good portion of her life, later on herself.

"When I was younger I lost my left eye;" he paused to think on how to word things. "Later on in a mission my friend and team mate was fatally wounded. Before he died, he had our other team mate, who was a medic-nin, give me his left eye." He took off the band, and she saw the red eye with what looked to be three commas. He was an Uchiha, and had what was called a Sharigan eye. The Uchihas who gain it, can turn them on and off, and it's not much of a drain on them. But since this isn't my natural eye, I can't turn it off, and if I use it too much, I'll collapse."

"So you keep your eye closed and covered when you don't need it." She frowned at that. It could end up being a weakness for Naraku to exploit.

"Sasuke-kun is an Uchiha himself; as well as your cousin."

"My cousin?"

"His mother was your father's sister, apparently. Your mother will probably be able to give you more details on it."

"And Sasuke-san has the Sharigan?"

"Yep."

"I see;" she put her hand at Kakashi's temple and felt the energy from the eye, and how it conflicted with the rest of his body. Kakashi though, did feel a tingle from her little examination.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting a feel for its energy, and your own natural energy. I'm going to do the same with Sasuke-san when they return."

"Why is that?"

"Because if you're going to chase demons with me in the past, I want to try to remove the excess drain the eye has on you. It's a weakness that would quickly be exploited."

"You can do that?" He stared at her.

"I might. I have to get a feel for how it naturally feels like first though." She finally removed her hand, and sat back in a more relaxed position.


	6. An Angry Demon Lord

Chapter Six:

An Angry Demon Lord

He was miles away from the village, and yet he could smell large amounts of his packs' blood. Though he likely would never admit it out loud, he now considered the odd shard hunting group his pack. He could only hold himself accountable, really, for joining up with them in the first place. However as he took a few more exploratory sniffs, he discovered both Kagome and InuYasha missing. '_Rin had better be unharmed or I will hurt someone_;' he viciously thought. That was another thing he would likely never voice. Rin was like a daughter to him. The only thing that kept him from making it official was the fact it would thrust her into being his heir, and he didn't want to burden her with the duties that would follow. As he flew overhead he noticed the dead miko, Kikyo by the well, keeping a barrier over it. His first instinct was to cut her down, but he had a feeling that he should talk to the others first. So he quickly made his way over to the hut he could smell them in.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin happily cried out as she hugged his leg. He patted the top of her head, and turned his attention over to the slayer, and the monk.

"Welcome back, Sesshoumaru-sama'" the monk began. "Much has happened since you left." He just continued to stare at him, waiting for Miroku to continue. "Shortly after you left, Kikyo's shinidamachu were spotted in the distance, and InuYasha took off." He didn't fail to notice the disgust in Miroku's voice when he said his half-brother's name.

"What has he done now?"

"Oh I'll be getting to _that _soon. Anyhow, we hadn't stopped him, as he would still be close enough to hear and smell if there was an attack. As the day progressed, Sango-chan, Kagome-chan, and I grew uneasy. There was something bad that was getting ready to happen, but we didn't know what. So we prepared ourselves, and left Jaken-san and the kids in the village. We didn't go far, but if it was something to attack us, we wanted it to not be in the village itself. And sure enough later on in the afternoon, Naraku did attack. There were hundreds, if not thousands of demons, and yet InuYasha did _not_ show. Eventually day turned into night, and the night into morning. We refused to stop fighting, but we were all hurt, and were quickly tiring. I was about to use my wind tunnel, saimyoushou be damned. That's when Kouga-san, Ayame-san, Ginta-san, and Hakkaku-san showed. They quickly threw themselves into the battle, and they started turning the tide into our favor." Miroku paused to compose himself. "That's when InuYasha _finally_ decided to show up. With the use of the Tessaiga, he quickly reduced the number of demons, and we won." There was a rather lengthy pause.

"So I will need to beat him into realizing he can't ignore his pack-mates for his dead lover;" he scowled. Just when he thought his half-brother was starting to shape up, he pulls this.

"There's a lot more to it than that, Sesshoumaru-sama;" Sango finally spoke up, seeing how Miroku was choking on his words. "After the battle Kagome-chan asked him where he had been." She looked up to the rather upset demon lord.

"What was his answer?"

"He said he had been busy, and was hoping she had died in the battle." She looked up at him, obviously not wanting to say what was next. "They got into a verbal fight and after he said he wanted Kikyo's soul back, he attacked Kagome, in an attempt to kill her."

"He's _DEAD_!" He roared. "So the dead miko was in on this too?"

"Actually Kikyo defended Kagome-chan, and is currently keeping a one-way barrier to keep InuYasha out of Kagome-chan's time." Miroku interjected. "Kagome-chan was hurt so badly, she needed to see healers from her own time. And we can only hope that she did get to one in time."

"I see." He turned to leave the hut. "Rin, stay here and behave. I'm going to speak with Kikyo." And he quickly left.

Kikyo actually looked relieved to see him, once he came into the clearing. This was unusual as he made it clear to her, early on, that he did _not_ like her. Though considering InuYasha's betrayal, perhaps he shouldn't be too surprised.

"Sesshoumaru-sama;" she acknowledged him with a nod.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Keeping InuYasha out of Kagome-chan's time; she can still return, but he can not be allowed through." Oh yes, he wasn't thrilled how Kagome had been getting along with the dead miko. However he knew he would be unable to stop her, and it seems that it put her at an advantage for once.

"Why did you not show up for the battle?"

"I did not sense it." She leveled her gaze at him. "My powers have been waning. I won't be in this world much longer. I have been training her to use her powers, and once she returns I plan to have her put a more permanent seal on the well. At least until her quest is over."

"How much time do you have left?"

"If I am not attacked; two moon cycles. That should give her enough time to heal and return."

"I see. And you are certain she will return?" He didn't want to mention the possibility of her being dead, but it was there.

"She may be five-hundred years in the future; however the tiny peace of her soul I have would know if she died."

"Ah. I shall help protect the village and you then until she returns." '_And kill the hanyou should he return_;' he silently added in his mind. He turned and walked out of the clearing. Just because he would keep her from harm so she could keep the barrier up, didn't mean he would stay next to her.

Meanwhile back on the other side of the well, Kagome and Kakashi were mocking bad kung-fu movies, when they heard distinct sounds of grumbling outside. Kagome turned the television off, and prepared to be bombarded with questions by her family, and the others. What happened instead was rather amusing.

They looked as if they had gone through a typhoon. Oh yes, her mother was quite the shopper. She actually felt sorry for them. So one by one the kids trudged into the house, and up the stairs to their room. And her mother, she went straight to the kitchen. Most likely to get dinner started. But still, they didn't even notice them! Iruka had been the last one in, and he noticed immediately. He was about to say something when both of them put a finger over their mouths in a shushing motion. They decided to see how long it would take the others to pay attention. So after Iruka put his bags in the room he was staying in, he quietly sat down in a chair next to them. And that's when Sakura decided she was going to check in on her patient.

"Where did Kagome go?" They heard her voice upstairs.

"What do you mean where did she go?" Sasuke replied.

"She's _not_ there!"

"WHAT?" rang out three male voices.

Kagome had to force herself not to laugh. When the kids started running around looking everywhere except the living room for her. Even her mother had spaced out and didn't think to just look over at the couches. That apparently was too simple. Oddly enough it was Naruto that was the first teen to notice them, upon running down the stairs searching for her. Shortly after, Shikamaru lazily wandered from downstairs, who sat next to Naruto. Again they silently told them to keep quiet and he sat on the other couch. They all desperately tried holding in their laughter, but they were sent over the edge when Sasuke was heard asking Souta why he was looking under beds for her. The five lost it, and were laughing so hard they were crying. Needless to say once they got back under control, there were four rather miffed individuals staring at them.

"Oh how I wish I had my camera." Kagome giggled out.

"And popcorn!" Kakashi added to that while snickering. Iruka and Naruto started laughing again.

"Heh;" was all Sasuke could think of to say, while glaring at Kakashi for being Kagome's leg pillow. He wasn't too keen on the pervert being that close to his cousin.

"That was _mean_ Kagome!" Souta grumbled. Happy teenage brother, he was not.

"It's your own fault for not paying attention to your surroundings." She shot back at him, blue eyes twinkling at him.

"Well anyhow Kagome, I'm glad to see you're awake." Tsukiko quickly enveloped Kagome into a careful hug.

"Thanks Mama."

"Now, I bet you're wondering why there are so many people here." Tsukiko started in nervously.

"No, it's alright. Kakashi-san filled me in."

"Oh, well then;" she shuffled her feet for a bit. "I'll just be back to making dinner. Oden sounds good?"

"Score!" Kagome practically yelled out, startling everyone but Souta. Oh how she loves oden.

"So now that everyone is here, you can finally explain what happened." Kakashi looked at her, and she sighed.

"Yeah, I guess I do need too. But first everyone standing needs to sit down and introduce themselves to me." Anything to stall, she supposed.

"I'm Naruto!" The blonde practically bounced in his seat. She silently vowed to never allow him near sugar.

"I'm Shikamaru;" he half heartedly waved at her while yawning.

"I'm Sasuke, your cousin." Who decided to sit on the floor facing the rest.

"I heard you were;" Kagome interjected. "We'll have to hang out to get to know each other." She smiled at him, and he gave a small smile back.

"Anyhow, I'm Iruka;" he half bowed in his chair.

"And I'm Sakura;" said the pink haired girl as she sat rather close to Souta who decided to sit on the floor as well. "Oh, I think we probably should change your bandages;" she started.

"That's alright, Kakashi-san changed them earlier;" she smiled at Sakura, while both Sasuke and Souta were giving Kakashi a death glare. "But I do thank you for all the help you gave me."

"Kakashi-sensei changed them?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, he behaved himself." That seemed to calm everyone down for the most part.

"So what exactly _did_ happen to you, yesterday?" Shikamaru asked her. Lazy he may be, but he was highly curious. Kagome leveled her gaze at them all in thought.

"I think it would be best if I started from the beginning." She uttered quietly.

"Of course it would." Sakura added. "You don't just talk about a battle starting from the middle of it."

"No, when I mean beginning, I mean when everything began." She paused for a moment, and took a deep breath.

"Everything began on my fifteenth birthday, when I went to go get Buyo out of the well shed, and a centipede demon the size of a _train_ pulled me in."


End file.
